The proposed $200 million investment from hedge-fund investor David Einhorn has been cooking since May, and it was thought to be a necessary financial jolt for the Mets, who are struggling both financially and on the field.

Einhorn is giving his point of view in a conference call right now. Einhorn said he can’t talk much about what happened between him and the Mets, but he made plain his belief that the Mets tried to renege on certain important terms at the last minute. Among those, according to Einhorn:

* He said the Mets reopened investment discussions with at least one possible investor in the Mets, even though the baseball team and Einhorn had agreed to a written contract. (As has been reported, those re-opened talks were with a group including Ray Bartoszek, the former Glencore commodities trader.)

* Einhorn said he had been told Major League Baseball would approve in advance the possibility of Einhorn as a majority owner in the team, if it comes to that down the line. (Other team owners have to green light any newcomers.) Einhorn said late last week he learned the Mets had lobbied Major League Baseball to remove that advance-approval provision from their deal.

Einhorn said he considers his Mets investment DOA, but he said he harbors warm feelings from the last few months. “This experience will always be a happy memory for me because of the Mets fans,” said Einhorn, who has been popping up in the stands at Mets games of late.

“This has been a very interesting summer for me. I’ve learned a lot. It’s been overall a happy experience. I am disappointed that we didn’t get to a successful outcome in the transaction,” he told reporters on the call.

Einhorn, always a stickler for details, also said he wanted to put to rest inaccuracies published in the media about him and the deal. For example, Einhorn said he is not — as has been reported — 43 years old. He said he looks forward to celebrating his 43rd birthday in November.

Comments (5 of 5)

This is a blow to Mets fans. David Einhorn represented an opportunity for the New York Mets to be rescued from the dreadful mis-management of Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz. Einhorn was savvy enough to have the agreement structured such that if the financial heath of the Mets did not improve within a designated period of time, that he could assume majority control of the franchise. Fred / Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz got MLB to remove the advance-approval from the agreement at the 11th hour to avoid the likelihood that they would lose majority control of the team.

The Wilpon / Katz group, Sterling Enterprises, have made business decisions (Madoff) that were either criminal in nature, or at least unethical and demonstrate incredibly bad judgment. In either case, these decisions have had a huge negative impact on the Mets and demonstrated that Wilpon and Katz should not be allowed to run a MLB franchise.

Too bad that the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig is a buddy of Fred Wilpon and as such will not be placing the Mets under the stewardship of Major League Baseball as he has done with the LA Dodgers, until such time as a new, competent ownership group can be selected to run the Mets.

The friendship between Fred Wilpon and Bud Selig should be revisited in light of recent decisions. MLB acquiesced to a request by the Wilpon / Katz crew to alter the terms of the David Einhorn agreement at the 11th hour. MLB removed the advance-approval of Einhorn as a team owner.

This follows a pattern of differential treatment of Wilpon and the Mets from other franchises such as the LA Dodgers. This inconsistency is curious and bears further examination by attorneys representing David Einhorn's and Frank McCourt.

Baseball has a long sordid history of impropriety but this is ridiculous.

2:59 pm September 1, 2011

Pelosi Schmelosi wrote :

The nano-second the Mets rid themselves of the Wilpons I will return to being a fan. Until then, those sorry sacks get not one dime of my $$$.

2:34 pm September 1, 2011

uhJeez wrote :

Some folks are truly awful, and so down through generations. Presenting for your consideration: Fred, Saul, Jeff, Bruce, and assorted coarse. born-on-third-base types. Mets fans, it goes on and on. Where is an impartial commissioner of baseball who will step up for fans?

2:17 pm September 1, 2011

Rp wrote :

These guys deserve each other

1:10 pm September 1, 2011

nyc wrote :

I'll be interested to hear from the Wilpons, but am inclined to believe Einhorn. The Wilpons are notoriously fickle and untrustworthy. Jeff Wilpon in particular is an absolute dope who couldn't get a job at McDonald's with anyone other than his father. I'm a Yankee fan, but it will be a happy day for New York when these clowns finally have to give up majority ownership of the Mets.

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